Hi ! I tested and bought the 135mm 1.8 ART , Sigma simply nailed it with this lens, amazing quality and excellent AF!!! What an incredible improvement!!!
Great view! Hard to believe that I'm one of the very few lucky Nikon users who don't experience as many AF issues as others with Sigma Art series lenses. I'm a Nikon D5 and D500 user, and own Sigma 24, 50, 85 and 135 Art lenses. I utilized built-in AF fine tuning on 24, 50 and 85 Art lenses, and since calibration on each of the three lenses was done I had not found any further AF issue at all. For my latest addition, the Sigma 135 Art, it was spot on right off the box and no need for AF fine tuning.
Mine will arrive very soon, and I will use it on my 6Dii, most of the time in Live View. So I am not worried about the focusing issues at all, because Dual Pixel with the face detect feature is able to find the subjects eye extremely accurately. Since I shoot most of my portraits in Live View (to see the background blur, and have better freedom with composition), I am not going to be effected by the inaccuracy. Same applies for Sony users. I just shot a wedding entirely with the Sigma 50mm Art, most of the time at 1.4, and the focusing was dead on almost all the time, which is great. You can imagine how amazing the shots look at 1.4, compared to my partners f4 zoom lens. Sigma is really creating something magical with this Art series.
This mirrors my experience with the 85mm f/1.4, used on a D810 and D500. I couldn't get it right even with the dock. Ultimately, I had to return it. It's not what I wanted to do. I simply had no choice. I even contacted Sigma, and a week later, I had not heard from the company.
I am so happy to finally see I am not alone in this. I also shoot with the D810+D500 , the best kit ever , and I have been in Sony and Fuji latest and greatest and they can't beat the Nikon in the end of the day.
my copy focused perfect strait out of the box (Canon mount) The Otus that you mentioned at $4500 is manual focus only so even without Auto focus the sigma is still a bargain.
I had the same issue with my 50 art. I sent it in for repair and now it seems pretty accurate. Going to take it with a shoot tomorrow. I hope it's spot on because optically it is so nice.
Darren I enjoyed your review , on the focus issue front. I found that after using Focal collaboration and usb dock the lens was in the high nineties percentage wise RELIABLE apart from one flaw , the two outer focus columns( d810) of either side of view finder only had a 20 percent strike rate but quickly switching to live view gives you same position and healds 100percent strike rate in those outer focus points . I know it be a pain to work like this but as a portrait photographer this is a non issue and this lens is after all a portrait lens . for weddings and shooting on the run I would not use it but rather my tamron 70 200 g2 that is deadly reliable.
I am actually more delighted to see your photography along side the beautiful music compared to the review itself. The results that you produce puts the word "ART" on this lens!
The only way to get around the front / back AF issue with the Sigma lens is to shoot in Live View if you’re using DSLR, or just simply move to Mirrorless.
I have a canon 85 1.2 and the way it renders is beautiful.I was contemplating buying the 85 art but have decided to wait for canon to release the 85 1.4 IS ver.A new lens and consistent focus.If the new canon 85 is as sharp at WOA as the sigma it would be a winner
Great review Darren!! Too bad adjustment is required via the dock to improve focus accuracy. Nice feature but I'd expect it to be used for minor tweaking, not optical focus correction! I expect more from a high end lens. Hopefully improvement will be made with future releases.
Whilst Sigmas " Art " series lenses appear to be built well on the outside you have to wonder what's going on on the inside. I'd agree that the shots that were in focus were certainly razor sharp, no doubt about that. Although it's a fraction of the price of the Zeiss it's not a cheap lens by any means, two bad copies would concern me enough to pass on it no matter how sharp its images potentially can be. Given the weight and size of the internal elements I wouldn't expect this lens to be a focus speed demon. I would expect it to be accurate and your review suggests it falls well short of that sadly.
yeah my bnew Sigma 85 1.4 Art have focus problems as well.. using on my Canon 5Dmk2.. I guess I have to know the lense more since it is still 2 weeks old.. but once focus, pictures are great.. I also noticed view finder focus has the most problem while using live focus, very accurate but slow..
I have 0 problems AF with Nikon D7100 maybe they fixed 'issues' by now. Actually had more problems with my Nikkor 50mm 1.8 with focusing than the Sigma 85mm f1.4 art.
This is my second Sigma Art Lens. And just like my 50MM this one is dead nuts focusing. I can't believe how many keepers I get. I bought both the Nikon 85 F1.4G and the Sigma at the same time from a reputable site, and sent the Nikon back. It was not as sharp, had far more missed focus shots, and was not even close creating those "Wow" image...
Wow then due to reliability issues - the tamron 85 1.8 has a higher score. The only question now is should I wait for the Canon 85 1.4 or go tamron 85 1.8?,
Thanks Darren, in my recent 1 year review of the 35mm Art over on my channel, I also highlighted the need for the dock as my copy right out of the box it had poor focusing issues also. Personally I have no intention of buying this 85, it's too heavy, too cumbersome and too expensive imo to have a lens that isn't accurate or predictable enough.
i have Nikon mount 50mn and 35mm Art, both needed AF Tuning in camera body. works ok... not great... but they were off like +/- 20! I've seen some reviews and they don't complain about the AF, I suspect it's because they're using Canon mount.
I had a Sigma 35mm F1.4 Art lens and while that thing was sharp as a tack, had decent contrast and ok color rendition (for a Sigma anyway), the auto-focus absolutely sucked ass on it - I made the mistake of using it at a wedding once later on into the reception and had maybe a 40-50% keeper rate when it could actually focus (then threw my Nikon 24-70mm F2.8G back on and didn't have any issues). I sold it, and no more Sigma lenses for me. I have a Nikon 85mm F1.4G and would never part with that thing, especially for the Sigma version in this video.
Great review as always Darren. Guess what? I also got myself a refurbished copy of the 85mm Art for $899 and I retuned it for exactly the same reasons you described. I also went through the dock calibration and the rate of out of focus pictures was too high to justify the weight disadvantages. (I am now gravitating towards Sony with Batís lenses because of easy to carry that combination is.) Bottom line, I may reconsider my decision and get it again if Sigma issues a firmware update that improves the autofocus issue. For the time being I am satisfied with the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8E for portraits.
Possibly - but comparison reviews take gobs of time and I'm getting run over right now - the season down here is still going strong... Ugh! I've heard GREAT things about the G2 Tamron 70-200 though...
Darren you nailed it literally. Now here's my two cents, I have come across the exact same focusing issues with the 150-600mm Sport, and the 35mm f 1.4 Art. Focusing is very very random with these lenses and honestly the guys that hide this FACT must be getting one hell of a Kick back from Sigma. You know how much I absolutely love your order of reviewing and your style but bro now listen to this simple fact: Art series is supposed to be PRO grade lenses right? I am not really sure though if a pro will actually risk a shoot with this inconsistency with focusing. You have tested two copies with the same issue and you give high recommendation on this lens??? Why because some other reviewers hide the real problems under the carpet??? So what is the point of YOU going through the trouble of reviewing it if YOUR recommendation is based on someone else's opinion? This kinda shakes our confidence in your reviews too as a consequence I am sorry to say. But comparing this to the Otus??? Come on now bro, that's a blasphemy man you know that right?
Christos, thank you for you comments. Given that my experience thus far with sigma art lenses has been positive, specifically with af, and given nearly all the other reviewers out there didn't seem to have the same problem (do you really think they're all lying?) - I was inclined to believe my experience was on the fringes. That said, I'm surprised at how many people have come out and shared similar experiences in the short time since I posted this review... as for grading, remember I score on 5 criteria, and I gave the AF a 7.5 or a "C", that's hardly glowing, and the sigma shined in the other 4 categories. Even if I gave the af a 6.5 (a "D"), it still would have squeaked out a highly recommended rating. Just the same, I appreciate the candor of your feedback.
Thanks for your reply bro, I know (we all do), that you mean well however, I wouldn't go as far as recommending it highly to anyone man. Really you will find out during this week that there are a lot of D810 users (myself included) that do have issues with the Art series. I don't know, perhaps its the pairing with the D810?? On my 35mm up to the 1metre or thereabout calibration is +20 on the Sigma dock and still it is front focusing. I even twicked the fine AF tuning on the body by +5 (so as to avoid screwing the longer distances all together), and still no help. Took it to Sigma for alignment /calibration and left my Camera with them for a week...same issues. It is in no way a reliable purchase. The cure? Nikkor 85mm F1.8, NOT the 1.4. In any case still in love with your channel and smooth approach. Always waiting for more have a lovely day and God Bless.
i must say this is an excelent review. thats the things we need to know. sharp but misses shots. i wanna ask your advice though on picking the hamble nikon 85 1.8. its less than half of the price of sigma, less than a stop and so fourth. for the low budget weddings, (something like 200$ per night) is it gonna make huge difference on choosing the art lens over the cheap 1.8 nikon lens. , aside from the 1.4 brightness and the better bokeh.
I noticed with my 85mm copy on my d810 that in AFS mode it hits accurate focus 70% of the time. In AFC mode 99% of my images are tack sharp. So i been using afc even in non movement portraits and nails focus every time.
Great and honest review Darren thanks. If you manage to get a good copy, let us know please. I would really love to figure out if you were just unlucky or if there is a real problem there before spending that kind of money. thanks again
hi darren, has any lens in your reviews got a 50 out of 50 Ratings ? . . . and would also like to know, which were the ones that got 49 ? . . . if you could please name them. Thanks.
Question, Would you recommend switching these lens as the Art rating you gave was 46 and the old 85 HSM was 45. Thanks for you opinion as its important to my purchasing options.
Great review, thanks Darren. I noticed you were in Asheville, NC. I live there! Were you shooting a wedding at the Biltmore by chance? Hope you had a great time up here.
Anthony - YES, we went to Asheville for a little vacation - and it was FREEZING - it actually snowed while we were there (as you can see in some of the pics) - we're going to go back at some point in the future as we had a REALLY great time. You live in a beautiful place!
I sometimes think you are a better photographer than a lens tester :) always love the sample shots in your reviews. big shout out to Wayne as well. Beautiful music. I think i heard some of his work in previous videos here but this one is my favorite tune. Talking about focus accuracy this will never be consistent if the lens is not calibrated correctly. there are copies out there that do behave strange and are difficult to adjust even with the sigma software. most (all?) need calibration. your figures show that you indeed got a problematic copy. it is not so much a value of more than ten that would make me worry but the inconsistency of the focus at different distances. all plus 15 would be no problem but wild figures like 1 7 -5 12 or so are bad. return this lens a d try another. also chromatic abberations vary. some stated the lens has none. i think they did not test that properly. in very high contrast scenes the lens has that as you showed in your video. all in all fine lens but definetly not the overall image quality of the otus. maybe close in sharpness but thats about it.
Hello my friend love your content. Is it possible to do a brief comparison of the focus issues on the Canon 6D please. Just a simple video. Wonder if it will perform the same way. I and all my partners use the Canon 6D for weddings. Thanks!! cheers. Frank from LA
I was in the local camera store last week and tried this side by side with the nikon version (85mm 1.4...the sigma was just waay too heavy, and the focus motor seemed "clunky" to me
Thanks Darren, another stellar review. I'd love to buy this lens, but I'm going to shy away because I need to have rock solid autofocus, period. If I don't have confidence in the lens, it's going to stay in my bag and only be used in the studio, and that's not what I want and need out of an 85 f/1.4. Darren, would you rate the 85s you've tested? I'd be interested to hear how they all stack up against one another. My inclination is to get the Tamron 85 f/1.8 with VC.
I don't know why this is but it seems that form most people on Nikon the lens does not focus well but on canon and on sigma it focuses just fine I don't why but I feel sigma needs to work closer to Nikon to get this down (canon shooter)
I feel like this too. I've tested two different copies of this lens while travelling on my Canon 6D (not the best AF system either) and both were amazingly fast and accurate at 1.4 so much so that when I got back home I ordered one and sure enough the quality and performance matched up to my previous field tests. I think its a Nikon thing
I had two 35mm Art copies and both were a huge disappointment ver with dock adjustments as well. That corned me to buy the Canon 35mm 1.4 II for a hefty price and now I am enjoying life again.
I have the 35 and 50 mm Art (Canon) and did not have any focus problems. Some people seems to have problems while others don't have any problems at all. This is so strange!
I have used the 35 and the 50 extensively and I’ve had no issues whatsoever. The 135 has also been nothing short of amazing, however the 85 drives me crazy because it is so inconsistent. Luck of the draw I guess, but this is my second copy of the lens.
Mike guitar If I could get a copy that focused consistently? I would get the Sigma. F/1.4 versus F/1.2 is not the kind of stuff the average client will ever notice the difference, we might as professionals, but our clients won’t, and at the end of the day it’s their opinion that matters more. The Sigma focus is considerably faster, so just based on that alone I would likely get the Sigma over the Canon.
Thanks for the honesty!! Any chance you'll be reviewing the Tamron 85mm 1.8 VC? An 85mm with vibration control intrigues me, and Tamron has been on par (or better) than sigma art series according to some reviewers..
I'm really confused about getting sigma 85mm 1.4 art for my canon 5d markiii so many negative comments regarding focusing issue. Can anyone give me proper suggestion 🙄
Just get one. Maybe they had a focus problem with the 85mm at launch these are long gone and if they are present, easily resolvable with the dock nowadays.
Question, Would you recommend switching these lens as the Art rating you gave was 46 and the old 85 HSM was 45. Thanks for you opinion as its important to my purchasing options. Thanks
I only tested the G-Master for a couple of months - even though the G-Master was slow to focus, it actually focussed more accurately on a Sony body than this did on a Nikon DSLR... The G-master and the Sigma are optically very similar...
Yes, no doubt this Sigma optics are similar to Otus .. if You won't count PF and CA, bokeh quality, corner to corner performance wide open, contrast and colour reproduction in direct light situations :D To be hones, I would still pick Nikon 85 f/1.4 or Canons 85 f/1.2, at least these do not pretend to be something they can't be - Otus, and because they re not, they have their unique style full of 'soul' and climate.
I have a Nikon f/1.8 and I'll likely bring it along with me to my next wedding (along with the Sigma "A") - but if I really have to get the shot, I know I'll get it with the Nikon - even if it focussed properly the Sigma would render a better result, but I can't rely on it, and it's killing me!
Darren Miles I'm having back focusing on my D800 body, on my D600 the focus is good based on the focus chart I tested. I also own the Nikon 85mm 1.8g and it's great but I get a lot of purple fringing. Now I'm debating if I should just return it and settle for Nikons version of the 85mm 1.4
Ugh! All my other "A" lenses have worked great, but the 85 seems to have issues for a lot of people... I haven't used the Nikon 85 f/1.4, but I understand there's even more purple fringing with it than the 1.8 version, fortunately, removing purple fringing is relatively easy in LightRoom... I'd keep the f/1.8, that's what I'm doing...
Although I appreciate your films and humble opinion, I don't understand why you keep giving way to high marks... makes your films look like sponsored adds rather than reviews... Please be more critic and differentiate the upsides and low sides... But thanks for the review.
Miguel, completely legit critique of the review. Unfortunately - and to be consistent - my rating system weighs 5 aspects of the lens equally, and there's no doubt the build and the optics are great - they REALLY are - and many reviewers have proclaimed that they've experienced no focus issues at all, so I gave the lens the benefit of the doubt (maybe I shouldn't have based on the all the feedback in the comments consistent with my experience) and scored the AF a "C" or 7.5 - but the fact of the matter is, the other aspects of the lens are in fact excellent - I understand AF is crucial, and maybe in future reviews I'll put more weight on the value of the AF score... Appreciate the feedback!
Darren Miles Thanks for the answer, and please don't miss understand me, I for one have the 35 and 50mm with absolutely no problems (Canon), and I do like to watch your reviews, but most of them receive the highest marks... and I do believe that most (if not all), are top products... including this one (which I'll probably add as a work tool), but having tried 2 copies and still giving it a C... I would expect a D or even an F! Again, I do trust your honest opinion, but I think you ponder others opinion to much... My humble opinion, you should be more blunt a describe as you see it. But yet again, thanks for putting your neck out there for others, such as myself, get to see/hear honest opinions about lenses.
Darren Miles Thanks for the answer, and please don't miss understand me, I for one have the 35 and 50mm with absolutely no problems (Canon), and I do like to watch your reviews, but most of them receive the highest marks... and I do believe that most (if not all), are top products... including this one (which I'll probably add as a work tool), but having tried 2 copies and still giving it a C... I would expect a D or even an F! Again, I do trust your honest opinion, but I think you ponder others opinion to much... My humble opinion, you should be more blunt and describe as you see it. But yet again, thanks for putting your neck out there for others, such as myself, get to see/hear honest opinions about lenses.
Whilst Sigmas " Art " series lenses appear to be built well on the outside you have to wonder what's going on on the inside. I'd agree that the shots that were in focus were certainly razor sharp, no doubt about that. Although it's a fraction of the price of the Zeiss it's not a cheap lens by any means, two bad copies would concern me enough to pass on it no matter how sharp its images potentially can be. Given the weight and size of the internal elements I wouldn't expect this lens to be a focus speed demon. I would expect it to be accurate and your review suggests it falls well short of that sadly.
